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19

The Goldilocks Rule: How to Stay

Motivated in Life and Work

N 1955, Disneyland had just opened in Anaheim, California, when a ten-
year-old boy walked in and asked for a job. Labor laws were loose back
then and the boy managed to land a position selling guidebooks for $0.50
apiece.
Within a year, he had transitioned to Disney’s magic shop, where he
learned tricks from the older employees. He experimented with jokes and
tried out simple routines on visitors. Soon he discovered that what he loved
was not performing magic but performing in general. He set his sights on
becoming a comedian.
Beginning in his teenage years, he started performing in little clubs
around Los Angeles. The crowds were small and his act was short. He was
rarely on stage for more than five minutes. Most of the people in the crowd
were too busy drinking or talking with friends to pay attention. One night,
he literally delivered his stand-up routine to an empty club.
It wasn’t glamorous work, but there was no doubt he was getting better.
His first routines would only last one or two minutes. By high school, his
material had expanded to include a five-minute act and, a few years later, a
ten-minute show. At nineteen, he was performing weekly for twenty
minutes at a time. He had to read three poems during the show just to make
the routine long enough, but his skills continued to progress.